PIPER PA 22-150 — Las Vegas, NM

What happened

**This report was modified on March 15, 2022. Please see the public docket for this accident to view the original report.**

The private pilot departed on a cross-country flight in day visual meteorological conditions. When he did not arrive at his destination as planned, a search was initiated, and the airplane was subsequently located in wooded, mountainous terrain near a private airport about 73 miles short of the destination. The orientation of the wreckage was consistent with the airplane impacting terrain following an aerodynamic stall. Examination of the airplane and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation, and there was evidence of fuel at the accident site.

The pilot was not in contact with air traffic control during the flight. Radar information showed the airplane maneuvering near the airport before radar contact was lost; the pilot may have been attempting to divert to the airport when the accident occurred.

An autopsy of the pilot revealed severe coronary artery disease with 90% stenosis of the left coronary artery as well as evidence of scarring from a previous heart attack. Each of these conditions placed the pilot at significantly increased risk for the sudden development of symptoms from an acute cardiac event. Although the pilot might have decided to divert because he was impaired or incapacitated by the symptoms of an acute cardiac event, this scenario could not be corroborated by any operational evidence.

The airplane’s flight track indicated that the pilot maneuvered the airplane into a “bowl” area that included the runway. Afterward, the pilot flew a right downwind leg and turned too closely onto the base leg to complete the base-to-final turn. As a result, the pilot made a 270° left turn inside the rim of the bowl area to align with the runway. As the pilot made the base-to-final turn, he again turned the airplane too closely to complete the turn, most likely because he allowed the bowl area to define the dimensions of the turn. Because of the unnecessary tightness of the turn and the steep bank angle that was required to prevent overshooting the runway, the airplane’s critical angle of attack was exceeded, resulting in an accelerated stall (which has load factors above 1 G and a stall speed higher than the airplane’s 1-G stall speed) and a subsequent loss of control of the airplane.

The pilot’s logbook revealed that he logged almost all his 344 hours of total flight experience during or before 2007, with most of those hours logged between 1983 and 1992. Thus, the gap in the pilot’s flight experience, his limited recent flight experience, and the limited instruction that he received after purchasing the accident airplane did not prepare him for the challenges associated with the planned flight or the diversion.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.